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The shale boom has stirred deep controversy across the United States. With vast domestic deposits of natural gas and tight oil now both geologically and economically accessible, many stakeholders, from developers to landowners, are seeking to gain. But others are sounding alarms over contaminated wells, methane flares, and toxic spills. Federal and state authorities, with slow regulatory responses and minimal stake in local impacts, are often leaving local governments to navigate this controversy – and the many impacts of “fracking” – with constrained budgets and limited capacity.

Vietnam’s rapid growth has had drastic environmental consequences with polluted waterways and extensive biodiversity loss. The country is rated 136 out of 178 countries on the 2014 Environmental Performance Index, including a rating of 170 for air quality. That puts its overall environmental performance behind China (118), but its air pollution is not as heavy as the notorious smog choking many Chinese cities.

Of 178 countries and principalities, Thailand rates 78th overall, right in the middle. In Southeast Asia it's behind Malaysia and Singapore but ahead of the other nations. For air quality, Thailand rates 145, which is near the bottom, but not as low as India or China, which are in the basement.

Clouds of smoke rise above mounds of burning rags and garbage, engulfing the area in unbearable smog and stench. Splendid cars carrying well-groomed passengers pass by the mess. How would the passengers take notice of this open dumpsite? The windowpanes are rolled up and appear to be hazy with the vapour created by artificial air-cooling systems within the cars. The comfort takes us to a world where no smog, no stench can ever reach us, or so we wish.

For this #MapMonday we return to Yale’s Environmental Performance group, featured previously here on #MapMonday. The newly released biodiversity map brings together a whopping amount of data to detail the state (quality not just quantity) of species around the world, and while the staggering diversity of life on our planet is breathtaking (and sometimes pretty weird), the overall picture is grim.

Recent weeks have seen unprecedented action on climate change. The European Union recently announced a plan to slash carbon emissions 40 percent by 2030 and the United States and China, the world's two largest emitters, have pledged to make their own dramatic cuts. Yet for all the fanfare, no nation can hold a candle to the climate policy of Denmark, whose ambitious approach to combating global warming could provide an international model for clean development.

Only 5 percent of Kenya has major tree cover today, so it might be surprising to learn that it has some of the oldest national parks in the history of the conservation movement. In 1900, after the first landmark international conference of African wildlife in London, the Southern and Northern Game Reserves were formally created by a colonial government.

After two decades of international meetings on climate change have failed to reach consensus, the environmental world is beginning to sense a change in direction. The impacts of climate change no longer are being projected, they are being observed and measured, especially by those with the most to lose: corporations, cities and states.